


Honor, Loyalty, and a Covey of Damn Lizards

by AreYouReady



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Cardassian Resistance, F/F, First Meeting, Very Honorable Klingons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-10-01 03:10:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10179359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AreYouReady/pseuds/AreYouReady
Summary: Grilka is approached for help in an unconventional fashion by an unexpected new arrival in her life.She agrees, eventually.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Lilith for Trek Rarepair Swap. I swear I'll finish this one, I have spring break next week.
> 
> Thank you to jazzypizzaz and peternurphy for betaing!

Grilka was an honorable Klingon, but she was not one to participate in bat’leth tournaments. She was happy to watch, and spar only with opponents of her choosing. She was rarely invited to participate anyway, except for those tournaments where every member of every House was invited to participate. The House of Grilka was not beloved by wider Klingon society. And she was not a woman of politics, nor did she have any desire to involve herself in the sort of dishonorable machinations that would bring her the friendship of other Houses.

She rarely even entered First City except for tournaments, but she was still a familiar face in the court of the high council. Her special dispensation had made the feeds as far away as the Federation, and it had shaken Qo’nos. The feeling of being observed stalked her every step.

This was why she wasn’t exactly  _ surprised  _ to feel the tip of a disruptor press against the back of her neck as lingered in a dark, tree-lined alcove outside the arena, though she couldn’t say she wasn’t a bit  _ disappointed  _ that her enemy had not respected her enough to challenge her to honorable combat. Her hand came to rest, slowly, gently, on the dagger at her belt. She breathed deeply, waiting for a threat, a motion, something that might give her an idea who her adversary was. She relaxed into a posture of readiness.

...and she realized the disruptor she felt might not be a disruptor after all. It was the wrong shape, not pointed enough to be a Klingon weapon. Nor was it a square-tipped Federation phaser, or a rounded Romulan disruptor. Its tip was wide and thin; she couldn’t identify the make, and that made things significantly more dangerous. She tightened her grip on her dagger.

“Don’t move,” said a woman’s voice from behind her. The command was oddly belated, almost twenty seconds after she’d first felt the disruptor touch her skin. “I’m going to need you to come with me.” Grilka heard the chirp of a communicator, and before she could react, she was caught in a transporter beam.

The space she arrived in was cramped, and she allowed herself half a second to observe its strange features before whipping around, dagger in her right hand. She caught the wrist of the hand that held the disruptor with her left and forced it down, aiming the weapon at the floor, while she held her dagger in front of her like a ward.

Her kidnapper… shrieked? Grilka blinked. The figure was cloaked in black, but as it stumbled backwards, dropping the disruptor, its hood fell off, revealing a shocked and terrified… Cardassian? Now this was a strange development.

Grilka put her foot down on the disruptor, keeping it safe from enemy hands, but she lowered her knife, just slightly. She doubted that this woman would be able to take her without the disruptor. Unless of course she was playing a wounded  _ taqnar,  _ waiting for Grilka to let her guard down. Grilka raised the knife again.

“It’s all right! I am a friend!” the woman practically squeaked. Now that she knew to listen for it, Grilka could hear the metallic ring of the Universal Translator underlying her words.

“Is is a strange sort of friendship they cultivate on Cardassia Prime, then,” Grilka hissed. The woman bit her lip.

“There are eyes all over the quadrant. Eyes and ears.” Grilka’s kidnapper widened her own eyes as if to make her point. Grilka scowled. “I have come to beg your help with something important.” The kidnapper spoke more hurriedly now. Grilka scowled harder.

“And what help can the House of Grilka provide to a Cardassian? Aren’t you satisfied with slowly annexing the borders of the Empire?” Grilka asked. She shook her knife for emphasis. The Cardassian flinched.

“That’s just it! I’m a dissident, I work against the Cardassian government. And I know something that may interest you. I know that you’re an honorable woman, and that your reputation could stand some maintenance. I know you’re not wealthy, and you don’t have large holdings or armies, but you have good men at your command. And I know your movements aren’t as closely followed by the populace as some. So, I have a proposal. You have a chance to fight off a Cardassian incursion into Klingon territory and gain the glory you deserve. If you listen to me.” The woman blinked at her, still on the floor. She seemed honest, but Grilka had never dealt with Cardassians, and hearsay ranked them alongside Romulans with regards to honor.

“Tell me more.” She bent to pick up the disruptor from the floor, keeping her eyes fixed on her kidnapper.

“My organization has a base on Kelor II. That’s less than a lightyear from the P’Karn system,” the Cardassian began.

Grilka bristled. “So your people  _ are  _ encroaching on us.”

“No! No, no, we live there in peace. It is a place to hide. And Kelor II is a Varagh Class planet. It’s unsuitable for humanoids unless they stay in atmosphere and climate controlled underground compounds, and it has no valuable resources. We have taken nothing from you, and we do not plan to expand.”

Grilka considered. “And what Cardassian incursion are you proposing I fight off, if not your own?”

“I have reason to believe we’ve been discovered. And if we have, it won’t take more than a few squadrons of the Central Command’s finest to wipe us off the face of the planet. We have almost no weapons and only a few ships. And most of those are outdated technology that we were able to steal because it was unwanted, or scraps wealthy Bajorans who hate the Cardassian government could spare for us. If they destroy us, they’ll be free to use our base for military operations. Please, Lady Grilka, I know you have enough ships to fight off whatever small force the Central Command sends after us.” The Cardassian’s hands were clasped in supplication. Grilka, against her will, felt herself moved by the situation. The idea of simply wiping out a virtually defenseless populace…  _ Dishonorable. _

“Perhaps we can come to an agreement,” Grilka relented, and she finally sheathed her dagger. She saw the other woman relax immediately, and begin to get up. Grilka’s hand edged back to the hilt, just as a precaution. But the Cardassian woman did not attempt to approach. Rather, she turned her back, and began manipulating a console. “What are you doing?” Grilka was suddenly suspicious.

“Pulling up schematics,” the woman said. “I’m going to beam a datarod containing everything we know into your home, so you aren’t caught carrying it in the city. This is the first time it’s been decrypted since this file was put together.”

“Acceptable. Tell me where we are.” Now that there was no obvious combat situation to deal with, Grilka had a moment to take in her surroundings. They appeared to be in a small craft, Bajoran by its architecture, at least twenty years old by its wear. It was oddly shaped, barely wide enough for Grilka to fully extend her arms, but long enough for four tall men to lie head to foot along the floor.

“Don’t worry, we’re still on Qo’nos. We’re in a non-functioning shuttle, in a cave, I’m not going to tell you where, you can guess why.” The woman turned back to her, datarod clutched delicately between two fingers. She placed it on her open palm, and pressed what Grilka assumed was the transporter activation button. The rod vanished in a swirl of golden light.

“I can, but I do not like it.” Grilka growled. The woman didn’t flinch, but she seemed to want to.

“We have no designs on Qo’nos, Lady Grilka. We keep this place only to seek allies.” The woman bowed her head. Her hair was fashioned into some sort of incredibly elaborate style, now that Grilka was looking at is was a dispassionate eye. Grilka scowled.

“It is honorable to expect honor from others, but when another shows signs of being dishonorable, it is not honorable to trust him to the point of idiocy,” Grilka said, “First P’Karn, and now Qo’nos. You do not win yourself any favors in my eyes.” The Cardassian woman looked her in the eye, biting her lip.

“I cannot do anything but ask you to trust me. You are our last hope.”

“Why come to me? Surely there are others, with greater armies, and greater thirst for glory, who would serve your cause just as well.” Grilka folded her arms.

“We have a… mutual friend.” The woman looked away. “He vouched for your honor, your reasonableness, and your sympathy. And I had hoped that he might do the same for me to you, should you prove disinclined to trust me.”

“I have no friends among Cardassians.” Despite her hostile words, Grilka was intrigued.

“He isn’t a Cardassian. Nor is he Klingon. He is a Ferengi.” The woman blinked at her.

“ _ Quark?! _ ” Grilka hissed, shocked.

“Yes.” The woman seemed ashamed, for some reason. There was a long pause.

“He is… honorable. For a Ferengi. I give you my trust, for the moment.” Grilka uncrossed her arms.

“Good. Thank you, Lady Grilka.” The woman bowed her head. “Now, I should send you back to First City, before you are missed. But promise me you will look over the information.”

“I hope that our next encounter will not be so…  _ surprising, _ ” Grilka said.

“No,” the woman looked down and her cheeks colored a faint blue, “I’ll beam directly into your home in three days’ time.”

“I shall be ready,” Grilka nodded. “Now, return me from whence you took me."


End file.
